As Our unshakeable spirits have aged, do we Experience or do we Extinguish Spiritual Renewal?” Hebrews 12:29

Hebrews 12:28-29 Complete Jewish Bible

²⁸ Therefore, since we have received an unshakeable Kingdom, let us have grace, through which we may offer service that will please God, with reverence and fear. ²⁹ For indeed,

“Our God is a consuming fire!”^[a]

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

Since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken …

What an awesome blessing it is to know that the kingdom of God will endure.

We don’t have to worry that it won’t be there when we die, or that someday it will cease to exist. God is fully eternal, and his kingdom cannot be shaken.

Nothing, not one thing, in all of time will be able to destroy the Kingdom of God. The devil for a time will try, but we know he has lost the war. Our God is almighty and has overcome the devil.

1 Corinthians 15:56-58 Complete Jewish Bible

⁵⁶ The sting of death is sin; and sin draws its power from the Torah; ⁵⁷ but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Yeshua the Messiah!

⁵⁸ So, my dear brothers, stand firm and immovable, always doing the Lord’s work as vigorously as you can, knowing that united with the Lord your efforts are not in vain.

Let us be truly thankful

When someone does something nice for you, do you thank them?

I’m not always as good at this as I would like.

To be honest, I’m kind of ashamed of it.

Who takes the brunt of that?

Maybe my wife who is so kind to me, seldom refusing to bring me a drink.

Sometimes she gets argumentative or defiant, but usually she is agreeable at least since I am recovering from my Open Heart Surgery just over a year ago.

I must confess though that sometimes I will take her kindnesses for granted.

I don’t always remember, use, all the good manners my mother gave me.

She constantly deserve my thanks and deepest expressions of appreciation.

If I’m capable of forgetting to thank my wife who daily does amazing sacrificial things for me, how much more awful is it that I sometimes, well more than just sometimes, forget to thank my Savior Jesus for his sacrifice for my eternal life.

Not only do I not say it nearly often enough, I also don’t act grateful enough.

I become incredibly forgetful, selfish, unkind, needlessly impatient with Him.

I don’t always act as He would call me to act.

Again, I must make another hard confession; I don’t always treat others much better than myself, and I don’t always put Him at the exact center of my life.

Let us be more thankful. Let us cast off more old ways and focus on the Lord!

Let us Worship God more acceptably with reverence and awe

Psalm 100 Complete Jewish Bible

100 ⁽⁰⁾ A psalm of thanksgiving:

⁽¹⁾ Shout for joy to Adonai, all the earth!
² Serve Adonai with gladness.
Enter his presence with joyful songs.

³ Be aware that Adonai is God;
it is he who made us; and we are his,
his people, the flock in his pasture.

⁴ Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
enter his courtyards with praise;
give thanks to him, and bless his name.
⁵ For Adonai is good, his grace continues forever,
and his faithfulness lasts through all generations.

Why do we have the traditions we do in our church? I think most of them are to help with this action, so that we might worship God acceptably with reverence and awe. I want to get significantly better at this and not get too comfortable.

I want things to not become rote or commonplace, but that I remember why I am worshiping, and more importantly Who I am supposed to be worshiping.

I want to show my Lord reverence and awe.

I want to do that by putting Him first in my life.

Lord help me do this, please.

Because our God is an all consuming fire

There’s a story an American Lutheran bishop tells of visiting a parish church in California and seeing a stirring red and orange banner on the wall.

“Come Holy Spirit. Hallelujah!”

it declared in words printed under a picture of a fire burning.

But what really attracted his attention before his Sunday sermon were items almost directly next to it which evidenced: “Fire extinguishers, Hose, Dial 911”

Looking down at his sermon notes, the bishop laughed in irony as he thought to himself, “So much for this parish’s commitment unto their own spiritual renewal!”

When it comes to evidencing spiritual renewal in our lives, many Christians carry around a spiritual fire extinguisher because they’re afraid of looking too “extreme” in what they believe or are too afraid people will think they’re crazy.

But if you look very closely at those who’ve followed Christ most closely in the pages of the Bible and throughout history, you’ll find that while many of them were looked down upon for their faith, they were also well respected among believers and non-believers alike for sticking to their convictions. Acts 2:43-47.

Acts 2:43-47 Complete Jewish Bible

⁴³ Everyone was filled with awe, and many miracles and signs took place through the emissaries. ⁴⁴ All those trusting in Yeshua stayed together and had everything in common; ⁴⁵ in fact, they sold their property and possessions and distributed the proceeds to all who were in need. ⁴⁶ Continuing faithfully and with singleness of purpose to meet in the Temple courts daily, and breaking bread in their several homes, they shared their food in joy and simplicity of heart, ⁴⁷ praising God and having the respect of all the people. And day after day the Lord kept adding to them those who were being saved.

When we allow the Lord to be the center of our lives, He is an all consuming fire.

He burns out the old cobwebs. He adds deep excitement and change that we would otherwise not embrace. God is amazing and has so much planned for us.

James 4:7-10 Complete Jewish Bible

⁷ Therefore, submit to God. Moreover, take a stand against the Adversary, and he will flee from you. ⁸ Come close to God, and he will come close to you. Clean your hands, sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded people! ⁹ Wail, mourn, sob! Let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy into gloom! ¹⁰ Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

When we put God at the center of our lives, as He is an all consuming fire and fills every nook and cranny of our heart, we will find the excitement of having God in charge. Having Him burn away the junk, the sins, that gets in the way of our relationship with Him so that new life might grow hotter inside our hearts.

When there is a fire in the wilderness, it can be devastating  It can look as if everything that was good is gone, but after some time, new life grows, stronger and healthier than before. May I be refined by the all consuming fire of God.

So instead of trying too hard expending our physical resources, to control the fire of the Holy Spirit in your life, let it burn free, moving to every area and consuming all you are as you’re transformed by the renewing of your mind!

Prayer Challenge

Offer your entire self to God and allow Him to consume everything you are!

Questions for Thought

If someone were to ask those whom you interact with every day about how committed you are to God, what do you think they would say?

What are some areas of your life today in which you need to let God’s fire burn away the impurities and give wholly to Him?

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray

Psalm 61:1-6 Complete Jewish Bible

61 ⁽⁰⁾ For the leader. With stringed instruments. By David:

^2 (1) Hear my cry, God;
listen to my prayer.
^3 (2) From the end of the earth, with fainting heart,
I call out to you.
Set me down on a rock
far above where I am now.

^4 (3) For you have been a refuge for me,
a tower of strength in the face of the foe.
^5 (4) I will live in your tent forever
and find refuge in the shelter of your wings. (Selah)
^6 (5) For you, God, have heard my vows;
you have given me the heritage of those who fear your name.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

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